MMW Perspective 6: Decision-Makers, Incentives, and the Missing Opportunity

"If you don't reach the CFO and the board, your impact will be zero."

Nature finance is often discussed as a question of capital.

How do we mobilise more investment?

How do we attract institutional investors?

How do we scale finance for nature?

But what if one of the biggest barriers is not the availability of capital itself, but the incentives that determine where capital flows?

In the sixth perspective from Gerana's Making Money Work for Landscapes series, Ingrid Kukuljan, Partner at Morphosis Solutions, reflects on more than two decades spent working across global asset management, impact investing and nature finance.

Drawing on experience ranging from sustainable investment strategies to co-designing the Global Biodiversity Credit Framework, Ingrid explores a challenge that sits at the heart of landscape finance.

The investment case for nature may be stronger than many assume.

Policy signals are strengthening.

Nature-related risks are becoming more visible.

New opportunities are emerging across climate adaptation, green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, biodiversity and the wider bioeconomy.

Yet capital still moves slowly.

Why?

At the heart of Ingrid's contribution is her observation that:

Decision-making remains the constraint.

Finance does not move because sustainability teams are convinced.

It moves when CFOs, boards and investment committees see cost, return and strategic relevance.

Throughout the article, Ingrid invites us to look beyond the narrative of capital scarcity and examine the structures, incentives and assumptions that shape investment decisions.

An important theme running through the piece is opportunity.

Nature is often framed through the lens of risk, compliance or mitigation.

Ingrid challenges us to recognise the scale of the opportunity emerging alongside those risks.

For landscapes, the implication is profound.

The challenge may not simply be to design better projects.

It may be to create credible, investable propositions that resonate with the people who ultimately allocate capital.

For anyone working at the intersection of nature, business and finance, Ingrid offers a practical reminder that capital follows decisions - and decisions follow incentives.

This article is the sixth – and final – perspective in our Making Money Work for Landscapes series for 2026, exploring how money behaves inside the systems shaping landscapes.

We hope it sparks reflection, discussion and perhaps a few new questions of your own.

Further reading:

MMW Perspective 6: Decision-Makers, Incentives and the Missed Opportunity, by Ingrid Kukuljan (attached).